E-bike subscriptions fly out door
An e-bike subscription business based in Christchurch – a first for the Garden City – has bikes flying out the door to those who want to get pedalling with a little extra push.
Christchurch start-up business Shutl is offering e-bikes to customers on a subscription plan for $39.95 a week, with a long-term rental option available – an offer that has proven to be so popular, they’ve run out of bikes.
Locals Aidan Smith and Connor Read left their jobs as mechanical engineers in February because they wanted to offer a service for commuters in their hometown.
Seen in Europe, customers of the bike hire business pay a weekly subscription to get access to their own electric bike. The monthly lease hire includes theft cover, on-demand repairs and maintenance.
The business started with a pilot run in early June and has rented out all 20 of its bikes so far. They will be importing 30 more from Taiwan next month to keep up with demand.
Smith said the idea was to ‘‘change urban journey habits’’ – in other words, get the cars off the road.
‘‘Currently some of the large barriers to adopting electric bikes for commuters is the initial cost and complexity of maintenance and repairs,’’ said Smith. ‘‘We have heard horror stories of riders buying a brand new electric bike, for it to break a month later and then have to wait for five months to get a spare part for it.’’
Smith and Read plan to take their business – 400 bikes in total – to Auckland once they see it working well in Christchurch. The subscription will be offered at a lower cost of $29.95 per week because of the population difference and demand.
They will keep 50 e-bikes available in Christchurch.
Smith said the subscriptions are different to companies renting out bikes for single-ride use because the bike is yours alone, and you don’t have to search on an app to locate one or compete with others.
With Shutl you get your own e-bike that stays at home or the office with you.
The Shutl bikes are connected to an app, giving riders the ability to track their activity, including moving time, speed, calories burned, and environmental impact.